Author Visit: Nina Van den Brink

Nina Van den Brink was awarded the August Prize last year for "I Have Mopped Enough Floors: A Biography of Maja Ekelöf." In 1970, an unknown 52-year-old cleaner won Rabén & Sjögren's major poetry competition with "Report from a Mop Bucket," a diary reflecting a tough low-wage daily life. Maja Ekelöf was invited to Stockholm to receive the award, and overnight, the cleaner and mother of five from Karlskoga became a national celebrity. Suddenly, she was part of Sweden's politically engaged cultural establishment. "I Have Mopped Enough Floors" is a story about an extraordinary woman, a document of the politically influenced cultural life of the 1970s, and an urgent reminder of how society still views women in low-wage professions. Despite all progress and development, why is it that so many low-paid women have fared worse rather than better?

Registration: biblioteket@tomelilla.se

Photo: Anna Svanberg